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Stereotypes, Archetypes, and ASSumptions
April 3, 2004
Despite the overwhelming popularity of the
image of the stereotypical gamer (someone who is overweight, male and spends
his nights either gathered with his cronies around an old dinner table in a
parent’s basement or hopelessly masturbating while fantasizing about a ménage a
trios with Donna Troy and Leia Organa), the truth is that gamers are a pretty
diverse bunch. Scientists, techies, law
enforcement personnel, security guards, salespeople, writers, artists, musicians,
artisans, bus drivers, students, and store owners; all these people game. In
addition to diversity among the people who game, there’s a great deal of
diversity of in the types of games they play, and what types of worlds those
games take place in. There are tabletop games, card games, video games, both
single and multi player, live-action, boff[i],
and text-based games. Game worlds include the futuristic, prehistoric,
medieval, steampunk[ii], cyberpunk,
post-apocalyptic, urban fantasy, etc. Within each world exists a wealth of
character types, from dwarf barbarian to mutant space ranger to super powered
inventor, and everything in between and beyond.
As a result of this diversity, gamers as a
collective have only two common attributes. First and foremost, all gamers
appreciate forays into the imagination. Secondly, most gamers have a favorite
type of character to play, although that type may endure slight variations
based on the game world.
This first shared characteristic isn’t
enough to ensure universal gamer understanding, however. There are differences
of opinion regarding gaming mediums and subgenres, character types and combat
systems. Some of the worst understandings between gamers, however, are over
gender.
While it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone
that gamers include women among their ranks, to some, it is a revelation., and
Although the stereotypical gamer is just that, some male gamers still do only
have the social skills of an overripe sweet potato. These, thankfully few, men
often make assumptions about their female counterparts that are so off-base as
to be laughable, if still incredibly frustrating. Several examples include:
- If a woman is in a game store, she’s
purchasing something for her boyfriend
- If a woman is at a game or convention,
she’s only there to be with her boyfriend
- The female gamer is the ultimate geek
goddess, and wants to sleep with me
- Her character is a man-hating Amazon
- Her character is a slut
- She’ll never understand the combat
system
- Her character is mean because she has
PMS
These assumptions are condescending and
sexist. Any person in a game shop could be there for a variety of reasons,
including making purchases for herself or friends, or to meet up with her
gaming group. Many game stores also provide space for games. As for the second
assumption, why would any person attend an event in which they had no interest?
The third conjecture always amuses me. I,
for one, believe that there is an
ultimate geek goddess. This deity ensures saving throws, blesses dice, protects
incautious LARPers[iii], and
ensures continued funding for collegiate sci-fi clubs and conventions. However,
I feel the odds of the Geek Goddess manifesting as the computer engineer who
also plays a half-orc in any given tabletop game to be slim, and the odds of
her wanting to sleep with a gamer to be nil. Plus, worshiping alienates, rather
than embraces, a fellow gamer.
For the Amazon/Slut assumptions, RPGs and
early science fiction must take at least partial blame. Reading back through
works like The Martian Tales by Edgar
Rice Burroughs and looking at character sketches in early RPGs, one notices
three female archetypes, the Slut, the Virgin, and the Amazon. The Slut
generally is physically unimposing, although attractive, and rather stupid.
Instead, she relies on sex appeal, social manipulations, and guile to achieve
her goals. The Amazon, on the other hand, tends to hate men, prefers to
interact only with other women, and disparages weaker women. Of course, the
trouble with Amazons is that they all died,
were raped, or were sold into slavery. All skilled gamers that I’ve known,
male and female, tend to play complex characters, not one-dimensional
archetypes.
To address the sixth postulation, combat
systems can be complex. Most game
manufacturers use proprietary systems, for economic reasons. Different systems
can and are copyrighted, which means that anyone wanting to publish a
supplement for the system must pay royalties. At the same time, roles for
combat are always published in the RPG book and are available to reference.
But the last assumption is my all time
favorite. If role playing is an escape into the exotic, why would anyone want
to take PMS with them? Picture this:
Marguerite: “I
swing at the Orc, then rush off to change my pad”
Storyteller:
“Your magic-using companions are slaughtered as you search the bag of infinite
holding for feminine products.”
Marguerite: “I
hurl my fireball at the goblin.”
Storyteller:
“Take a cramp penalty.”
Marguerite: “I
get an extra Rage for my PMS”
Storyteller:
“Brian, she just ripped the head off of your character using that extra rage”
Marguerite: “I…
oh god, I botched my ‘change tampon’ roll.”
Storyteller:
“Brian, roll to dodge.”
Brian: “I use my deflect
arrows feat to deflect the aerial tampon”
Storyteller:
“Roll initiative”
Brian:
“Seventeen!”
Storyteller:
“Twenty-three.”
Brian:
“What?!”
Storyteller:
“Surprise attack, improved initiative”
Brian:
“What?!”
Storyteller:
“Where you expecting to be attacked
by a flying tampon?”
Brian:
“………”
Marguerite: *hysterical
laughter*
Brian: “At
least I didn’t take any damage.”
Storyteller:
“Actually… *rolls dice*, Oo!, a crit![iv]
Brian, your character is hit in the face with a bloody tampon; take five points
of damage, and loose a turn from the shock.”
Returning to the second shared gamer
characteristic, although most gamers have a favorite type, not all gamers agree
on what the “best” type is. In truth,
the types of characters a gamer chooses to play are indicative of her personality. Most gamers play characters that contain at
least a sliver of their true personalities, no matter how repressed or hidden.
This may seem initially unimportant, but it’s actually vital. What a person
plays or has their character do reflects back upon them. For example:
My junior year in college, my friend Aella
dragged me along to a LARP, in which we knew no one. We participated for a few
months, until a disturbing event occurred: One of the storytellers had
developed a crush on Aella, which she did not reciprocate. After Aella rejected
him, this storyteller created a character for the sole purpose of raping
Aella’s character. The storyteller then tried to physically isolate Aella to
enact this scenario. Although we prevented this from happening, the fact that
man even thought about doing that to Aella, even through Aella’s character, was
very telling, in a very creepy, not-okay kind of way. Neither Aella or I, or
anyone from our college for that matter, ever, ever allowed herself to be alone
with that person.
Since our characters are fractured
reflections of us, there are some storylines that should not be pursued without
the express, out-of-character, permission of all involved parties. These
scenarios include: Sexual relations, torture, and rape. The comfort of the
player should always take precedence over the game itself.
So while there’s no united game front, and
the stereotype isn’t indicative of reality, most gamers do share some
attributes. This doesn’t prevent misunderstandings or miscommunications, but it
does provide common ground to at least work some of those issues out. Guys like
gaming, women like gaming. If the guys
can refrain from assuming that women’s characters are grouchy ‘cause the women
are surfing the crimson wave, chances are the women won’t assume that they guy’s
characters carry great swords because they’re overcompensating for have small
dicks. Seems like it should work.
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to Aella for her story and to Deathwing for his help with the
tampon dialogues and with defining the ideal objects of geek lust.
Disclaimers:
To the best of my knowledge, the term “feat,” as used in the tampon dialogues,
is copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast as part of their Dungeons & Dragons
game, also copyrighted. The term “Rage,” also used in the tampon dialogues, is
copyrighted by White Wolf Games.
[i] Boff- A type
of live action role playing game, in which the players use fake weapons,
usually made of plastic pipes wrapped with foam and duct tape. Spells casting
is represented by the throwing of small bags, often birdseed wrapped in cotton,
and shouting the name of the spell.
[ii] Steampunk-
A world in which advanced technology is steam-based, or rustic. It’s almost the
opposite of cyberpunk.Think Waterworld
or the Lost Boys from Hook
[iii] LARP -
Acronym for Live Action Role-Playing, a form of Role-Playing Game in which
players are encouraged to physically act exactly how they think their character
would behave with other characters and the surroundings
[iv] Crit.- An
abbreviation of “critical,” as in “critical hit” or “critical roll.” It means
that an especially high number has been rolled, and that extra damage points
will be assigned if in combat. If in, say, a social situation, it means that
the character succeeds at whatever they’re doing.
Marguerite is a geek extraordinaire who has grown up on HBI, Computers, Gaming, and Science Fiction.
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